Friday, January 14, 2011

Rundown

You know what's hard? Finding the time to write about the cool stuff as it is going down as opposed to filling this blog with meaningless dribble in the hopes that something cool will someday happen.

So, this is what's going on.

Monday night I found out I was moved up to the main company at the Acme Comedy Theater, which is super cool. Working with these folks and getting to be a talentless hanger on who can ride their coattails... I mean... learning how they do what they do and is pretty much the reason I have spent so much time at this theater. Formats are changing this year and shows are shifting back to the more golden age of things and I think that it will all add up to the greater general good in the long run.

I'm also taking a movement comedy workshop with this incredible guy named Joshua Zehner. You might know him from Second City or as the director of Cirque Bezerk or as the guy who created a little Cirque du Soleil show Kooza. I have a couple buddies who went through Ringling's Clown College back when it still was and one of those ladies built a theater in her garage and has been asking people she knows to come out and share their wealth of experience and all around awesomeness. And I was invited into this workshop.

I can't tell you how good it feels to create some art for arts sake. No one is in the workshop because they are hoping this class will get them picked up for pilot season. It's been so long since I've gotten to act in a style that feels... natural. It is pure joy to just frickin' play.

Saturday night, I went and saw the Thrilling Adventure Hour at the Largo. I had bought a ticket almost a month ago in the hopes of seeing Nathan Fillion and Paul F. Tompkins and Sam Levine and Mark Gagliardi and and and, and THEN got a tweet that my old buddy Matt Braunger from early sketch days was going to be in it.

The show was so much fun and left me aching to do REAL theater again. It was like watching a masterclass. The comedic genius up on that stage... It was like having all the secret ingredients to Coca-cola in one room. Someone should have made sure a vice president of comedy was in a bunker somewhere because too many great minds were on that stage at one time.

To prep, I went out and did an open mic at The Spot in Culver City. Standing in that backroom were some HUGE names in comedy grinding out the kinks in their routines just like me. I had to seriously talk myself into getting out of my car and walking into that cafe. I wanted to quit comedy forever. I cursed whatever cosmic force had suckered me into doing it again. By the time the open mic was done, I wanted to do nothing but standup for the rest of my life OMG BFFs 4EVAH!

The show at Flappers was great. Tianana, Mr. Tianana, Miss Bliss, L.M., Mangy Dog Joe, Greggie Honey, Dinda, and MattF all came out to cheer for me. The theater was packed to its gills. I was first up on the list, which usually means you're taking the bullet. You go into it knowing you are gettin' zero laughs. You're the chum in the water to attract the funny.

But that ended up not being the case at all.

The audience was ON IT from the moment I got up there. They caught every joke. Laughed loudly. I haven't felt that good about a set in awhile. My new stuff went over like gangbusters.

And that club is seriously my new favorite club in town. Comfy seating, cheap food and drinks, nice people... And they had an actual greenroom for the comics and took care of us better than I've been cared for in most legit theaters in town. A+ Awesome.